A bench of justices Sanjiv Khanna and S P Garg dismissed the appeals of Mohamed Shahanwaz alias Tarik, Mohmed Wasim and Mohamed Tanveer against the lower court's order, which had convicted the trio for kidnapping the boy for a ransom of Rs 25 lakh, relying upon the victim's statement.
The bench rejected the argument of the three accused that the boy's testimony is full of contradictions and unreliable, and said, "We have considered the contention but do not find any merit in the same."
"Several questions were put to him to verify and satisfy whether he was mature enough to understand the questions and respond to them. He has answered questions, which were put to him, quite logically," the court said.
"His statement on the main and core aspects should be believed and accepted. For a child of about 11-12 years, he has shown incredible and commendable presence of mind to be able to recollect and state facts. Minor discrepancies or contradictions, which have been pointed out, do not in any way affect the victim's credibility on the crucial and core aspects," the court further said. (More)
